


the aftermath of nightmares

by magznus



Series: Jupeter fics [3]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Peter is soft, juno is a tired boy, not much dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:22:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24018166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magznus/pseuds/magznus
Summary: Juno wakes up from a nightmare and Peter comes to his rescue
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Series: Jupeter fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602751
Comments: 5
Kudos: 92





	the aftermath of nightmares

The hardest part of a nightmare was always waking up. The sudden change in atmosphere that felt like a bucket of cold water on his already frozen limbs. The Carte Balche ran fairly cold compared to Juno’s apartment and he had started to sleep with multiple blankets to keep warm. Tonight they had all found themselves thrown to the ground as he stumbled out of bed and across the room.  
Smacking into the wall at full speed Juno fell to the ground, confusion filling his mind as the door was on the other side of the room from where he had run, attempting to head to the bathroom. Now that he had stopped moving all of his strength left him and he collapsed to the ground, pressing his back against the wall as best he could while clamping his hands over his ears.  
The remnants of the nightmare held onto Juno as he sat alone, hands that only hurt and words that scarred far worse kept him trapped inside his mind for what felt like ages. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Juno heard the door to his room slid open, and soft careful footstep approaching him. It wasn’t until slender fingers grabbed onto his wrists that he reacted to the person now in front of him.  
“Don’t!” Juno’s voice came out broken and scratchy as he wrenched his hands away and attempted to curl into his previous position.  
The person seemed to understand that he didn’t want to be touched so instead, they sat down carefully next to him. Close enough that he could hear each measured breath that they took but not so close that he could feel their skin against his.  
Time moved around him painfully slow, the voices didn’t go away for a long while, and the only thing keeping Juno from banging his head back to try and rid himself of them was the calm figure next to him. The only hint of reality he could muster. They could have been there for hours or days, Juno wasn’t sure but finally, his mind went quiet, and he was able to carefully lift his head and look around the small room.  
The door to his room was cracked open just slightly letting in a small beam of light from the hallway that illuminated the mess of blankets and pillows sitting on the ground in from of his bed. Juno was on the far side of the room, huddled in a ball with his legs pulled as far up to his chest as he could get them. Sitting next to him, completely silent and calm, was Peter Nureyev.  
Nureyev had his eyes closed and was sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him perfectly straight. A stranger would have thought he had fallen asleep but Juno could see the slight twitch of his eyebrow every few moments that gave him away. Now that Juno himself was beginning to feel calmer he could begin to see through the layers that Nureyev had put in place for his sake, the slight tremor of nerves just in his legs that gave away how upset he was by the whole ordeal.  
Taking a steady breath, Juno reached out and grabbed Nureyev’s hand, giving it a light squeeze before threading their fingers together and resting them on top of his stretched out leg. The small action was all it took for Nureyev to begin moving, first, his eyes opened as he turned to Juno and looked him over, finding that whatever had been wrong was over he was quick to help Juno up and bring him out of the room.  
Juno followed along behind Nureyev peacefully, knowing that there wasn’t much he could say to stop the upcoming onslaught of comfort. They walked toward the bathroom and Nureyev silently guided Juno down onto the toilet before grabbing the first aid kit they kept under the sink. Juno looked up at him confused before Nureyev dabbed and alcohol swab just above his ear.  
“Ow! Shit Nureyev!” Juno pulled away quickly as he broke the silence. “What the hell was that?”  
Nureyev glared down at him, “That was me cleaning the wounds you’ve managed to give yourself. We can’t have it getting infected and you losing an ear as well as your eye.” He went back to cleaning the wounds that Juno hadn’t known were there, this time just slightly gentler.  
Juno watched as Nureyev went through a few of the pads, not too much blood but enough that he felt bad about it. They had piled up inside the small bathroom trash before Nureyev deemed Juno to be fine once again. He moved away from Juno and maneuvered himself around the small bathroom for a few minutes. Juno allowed himself to zone out as he waited.  
He couldn’t remember what the dream had been about anymore, just a few vague lingering emotions that were slowly dissipating with time. It wasn’t abnormal for Juno to forget the nightmares that plagued him, especially after the Theias, and if he was being honest he was more than happy not to have to remember whatever cause him such distress.  
Nureyev returned to standing in front of Juno, in one hand he had a soft-looking rag that seemed to have been soaked and wrung out, and in the other was a glass of light brown almost golden liquid.  
“Here, drink this” He handed Juno the glass, “it helps to calm nerves” He glared down at Juno just as he was about to ask a question “No it’s not whiskey, that is a much less desirable type of calm.”  
Too tired to be anything but obedient, Juno drank from the glass slowly. The liquid was lightly sweet though nothing too abrasive or strong. He hummed happily as he finished the drink and set the glass down on the counter.  
Satisfied, Nureyev stepped into Juno’s space once again, he smiled softly before bringing the rag up and beginning to gently wipe down Juno’s face. The water he had used was warm and Juno closed his eyes, content to allow Nureyev to take care of him for a little while longer.  
It was easy once Juno let himself be taken care of, he kept his eyes closed and Nureyev finished up, and allowed him to pull him upwards about back out of the bathroom. He didn’t fully open his eyes or become truly aware of his surroundings again until he felt Nureyev slowly begin to tuck him back into bed.  
They were laying side by side on the small twin mattress with only their clothes separating them. Nureyev had just finished pulling the blanket up to their chins and currently had his arm draped across Juno. It was warm, and Juno could hear the rooms heater blasting throughout the small space. It was nice, peaceful, and calm. And Juno could feel the pull of sleep at the edge of his consciousness.  
Feeling safe and content, he relaxed fully into Nureyev’s side and let himself fall back asleep.


End file.
